In New Mexico, the FLN is now a key part of a water source pro-tection fund program for the northern Rio Grande. Our vision is to provide a reliable supply of high-quality Rio Grande water and healthy forests for the benefit of New Mexico’s communities. Our goal is to scale up forest thinning and prescribed fire treatments from about 6,000 acres per year to 30,000 acres per year in northern New Mexico. We will do this by developing a sustainable source of funding from a wide variety of investors and donors, facilitating payments to upstream land managers to help them reduce wildfire and debris flow risk in high priority areas and build forest resilience and revitalize forest-based businesses. The seven-million-acre Rio Grande landscape includes 1.7 million acres of forest, of which 600,000 acres are treatable. FLN supported activities include engaging with the Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network, developing a collaborative governance structure for the many water fund partners, and conducting restoration treatments. The FLN is also addressing the post-fire impacts where uncharacteristically large and severe fires have damaged watersheds.

SantaFe

Albuquerque

CortezAlamosa

Española

Valles Caldera

Bandelier National MonumentLos Alamos National Lab

San Juan NF

NEW MEXICO

Rio GrandeWater Fund

Durango

Los Alamos

Taos

Pagosa Springs

Santa Fe National Forest

Cibola NF

CarsonNational

Forest

Rio Grande NF

ChamaQuesta

Cuba

Las Vegas

Los Lunas

Bernalillo Tucumcari

Santa Rosa

Raton

Clayton

Farmington

COLORADOUT

AZ

OK

TX

Acequia del Monte del Rio Chiquito Taos

Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Authority

Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority

Bernalillo CountyBohannan Huston Civil EngineeringBosque Environmental

Management ProgramBureau of Indian AffairsBureau of Land ManagementChama Peak Land AllianceCity of Santa FeCiudad Soil and Water

Conservation DistrictDekker/Perich/Sabatini ArchitectsForest GuildGreater Albuquerque Chamber of

CommerceIntel CorporationLautman Economic ArchitectureLowe’s Home Improvement

Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District

New Mexico Acequia AssociationNew Mexico Association of

Commerce and IndustryNew Mexico Association of

CountiesNew Mexico Department of

InsuranceNew Mexico Environment

DepartmentNew Mexico Forest Industry

AssociationNew Mexico Interstate Stream

CommissionNew Mexico Land Grant CouncilNew Mexico Minerals, Energy and

Natural Resources DepartmentNew Mexico Museum of Science

and Natural HistoryNew Mexico Office of the State

EngineerNew Mexico State Land Office

New Mexico Water Business Task Force

New Mexico Watershed and Dam Owners Coalition

Racher RestorationSandia National LaboratorySAYAK Natural Resource ConsultingSierra Club—Northern New Mexico

GroupThe Land and Water ClinicThe Nature ConservancyTrout UnlimitedU.S. Army Corps of EngineersU.S. Geological Survey—Water

Science CenterUniversity of New MexicoUSDA Forest Service— Carson NF;

Cibola NFUSDA Forest Service—Southwest

Region Valles Caldera National PreserveWatershed Dynamics, LCCWestern Land Alliance

The Fire Learning Network is supported by Promoting Ecosystem Resilience and Fire Adapted Communities Together (PERFACT), a cooperative agreement between The Nature Conservancy, the USDA Forest Service and agencies of the Department of the Interior. For more information, contact Lynn Decker (ldecker@tnc.org).

Rio GrandeWater Fund

Anne Bradley abradley@tnc.org (505) 946-2038

Dave Gori dgori@tnc.org (505) 946-2031

Laura McCarthy lmccarthy@tnc.org (505) 946-2024

Eytan Krasilovsky eytan@forestguild.org (505) 983-8992 x 16

Wetlands (top) and hillock (bottom) at Valles Caldera National Preserve in the heart of the Water Fund land-scape.

© 2013 Alan W. Eckert for The Nature Conservancy

Rio Grande Water Fund Advisory Board Member Affiliations

A properly-thinned stand of ponderosa pine is more resilient to wildfire

© 2013 Alan W. Eckert for The Nature Conservancy

A sustainable supply of trees removed by forest thinning could be used to generate

electricity, heat buildings and produce liquid fuels—creating

new jobs and uses for New Mexico’s abundant,

overgrown trees.

Frequent, high-severity wildfires and subsequent

post-fire flooding increasingly threaten the Rio Grande’s water security and cause extensive soil erosion

and debris flows that degrade water quality for communities

downstream.

Learn More or DonateLaura McCarthy

Director of Conservationlmccarthy@tnc.org

(505) 946-2024

Jacquelyn HallPhilanthropy Director

jacquelyn_hall@tnc.org(505) 946-2021

nature.org/riogrande

Healthy forests and streams provide habitat for fish and

wildlife and protect them from damaging wildfire, flooding

and ash-flows that often follow high-severity burns.

Healthy forests store more snowpack and release more water to streams, leading to more resilient forests and possibly increased stream flows.

Restoring essential forested lands upstream will ensure a continuous supply of clean water downstream

New Mexico | Rio Grande Water Fund

Healthy and scenic rivers, forests and mountains benefit New Mexico’s

tourism and recreation economy by attracting visitors who seek to experience

the state's beautiful outdoors.

The Rio Grande and its tributaries supply water to nearly half of New Mexico’s

population, including Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Pueblos and other communities.

An equal opportunity provider. v. 21 May 15

Improving the health of head-water forests is a critical climate change adaptation strategy in a warming Southwest, where fire seasons have become longer and more severe, and water security is a primary concern for all communities.

The Comprehensive Plan for Wildfire and Water Source Protection is available at:

http://nmconservation.org/RGWF/plan.html

New Mexico | Rio Grande Water Fund